The Way He Is
by Crescent Punk
Summary: Songfic to Ingrid Michaelson's "The Way I Am." Collection of mini-oneshots.


_A/N: I don't own a THING.

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"Just a few more... ahhh," Axel rolled on the last bit of paint on the house, making it totally pale blue. He smiled at his finished work, steadying himself on the ladder as he looked down to his boyfriend proudly. Roxas was at the bottom, supplies already used bundled in his arms like a child holding onto a teddy bear. He stared up into Axel's grin and, in turn, making him smile back. He saw the pyre stretching, raising his arms and flexing his back, which made him lose his balance, swinging his arms in order to keep steady, but to no avail. He attempted to grab on a piece of house, but, the irony of it all, was wet from paint and he lost his grip, sending him tumbling towards Earth.

Roxas, in a state of panic, tossed aside the objects in his arms and held them out, empty. Maybe in this panic he actually thought he would be able to catch his much-heavier-than-himself boyfriend, but, alas, it would've been just heartless to just _watch_ him fall. If he was to be injured, well, Roxas might as well at least cushion his fall, if not be injured, too. So, arms outstretched, Axel fell, not into Roxas's arms, but onto Roxas himself. The two males collided with the ground, their bodies making a cross. Axel sat up, not expecting to actually even be _alive_ after this, looked to see the blond boy under him, as if someone just jumped on his stomach.

Axel felt his lips twitch into a smile, which grew into laughter. He pulled the younger male up on his feet, kissing his nose as he said, "Thanks for catching my fall."

_"If you were falling, then I would catch you."_

"Ooh, I am _so_ beating you," the red head sneered, totally "in the zone" of his game.

"Ah, that's no fair!" Roxas proclaimed, "You use cheat codes!"

"If 'cheat codes' you mean, 'awesome skills,'" Axel said, "Then yes, I am totally cheating."

Just as the game shouted, "Finish it," the TV flickered, then the screen warped into darkness, followed by the rest of the electrical appliances. When the power goes out, you never realize how quiet or dull your house is without the commonplace noises always sounding, until you realize they were anything but common, and you just let your mind get used to it. And the silence, the two boys, weren't used to. Darkness surrounded the whole house. The cause of it given away by the large illumination, followed by a crack that sounded like a branch snapping.

"Damn," Axel murmured, "And just when I was about to win..." He felt a hand on his, clutching it tightly. Even though he couldn't even see his hand, he knew who had clutched it and where he was. "Roxas..."

"It's just a bit spooky when you can't see anything in front of you, ya know?" Roxas voice was quivering a bit.

Axel, being the crazy pyre he always was, dug into his back pocket, and came out, at least what felt like, a lighter. Careful not to have his fingers directly where the flame was, he flicked it once, twice, and thrice before igniting a flame. It created a small illumination, but the boys didn't need to see the whole house to feel exactly safe. The flame caught sight of Roxas's face, grateful and full of wonder at the small flame. Axel was almost sure that he wanted to touch it.

"Thank you." A kiss to the cheek, and a grin was given off.

_"You need a light, I'd find a match."_

Blue eyes opened, light stinging his eyes. He felt cold, even though it was the middle of summer. The chilled feeling was erased as Roxas realized where he was. It's funny, when one tends to sleep, they forget their surroundings. His vision caught sight of a beige chest, contrasting to the Blondie's pale complexion. Roxas placed a hand against the body, eyes seeming to soften. The metaphor for the picture would be a pink starfish on the sunbaked sand.

"Heh, good morning." Roxas peered up, ultramarine eyes glittering in the sunlight, searching for the source of the voice which each word was full of gentle laughter. Confident kelly eyes met curious cerulean ones, a smile to match. The young male felt his cheeks go a tinge of pink at the simple statement. Two simple words, most people wouldn't mind them much thought. But, at that moment in time, Roxas felt his lips curve in a smile. The simplicity of the words, the emotion that was held; it was, dare he say, comforting.

_"Cuz I love the way you say good morning._

_And you take me the way I am."_

A bitter cold wind blew across the two males, marking the tell tale sign that winter was slowly approaching. Oh, how the days of autumn and summer had just _flown_ by. Axel bitterly wished that they'd return. Caught up in his own sour self-pity, he almost didn't notice pale arms wrap themselves around a small body. He looked over. What he _thought_ he saw apparently didn't happen; Roxas's arms were at his sides and had a look that said, "What?"

Blinking away his moment of insanity, Axel turned back ahead. Slowly, his thoughts began to wander and questions began arising. What had he just seen? Why was Roxas so quiet? And how was he _not_ cold? Axel had a hoodie on and Roxas was left with just short-sleeves. Surely, he had to be a little chilly? Another wind blew and this time, the red head was sure to see a shiver. And he did. Lanky arms came up to wrap themselves around a lithe body, only clothed in a checkered tee and rosy lips gave out a shiver.

The pyre stopped and began immediately removing his hoodie by pulling down the zipper. Roxas stared at him in slight confusion as Axel slinked his arms out of the garment. "Uhmm?" The taller male glided behind him and placed the too-large-for-Roxas-hoodie on his shoulders. "What I don't need--"

"Yeah you do." A bare arm slided across the blonde's shoulder, pulling him close.

_"If you are chilly, here take my sweater."_

"Work sucks!"

The red head came stomping into the house, flinging off his coat in pure irritation. He searched for the couch, not minding who was on it, and flopped right down on it, receiving an "oomph" when he made contact.

"Bad day?" Axel looked up, noticing his head landed conveniently on his blonde partner's lap. Roxas had his reading glasses on, but were out of place and crooked from the fall and he hadn't decided on fixing them yet. Green Eyes turned his head away. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Alright," the blonde said, "Fine." He turned back to his book. Axel felt his mouth twitch. Not into a smile, but just a twitch, as if it wanted him to speak about his day, his life, _anything_, really. But, Axel was a stubborn man and refused to talk about things. He was a guy; guys don't "talk about things." He felt the twitch get more persistent and bigger, like an annoying child asking for candy and the mother didn't respond to the bothersome pleas. Soon, the twitch became so bothersome and irritating, he gave in and complied to the supposed needs. He stood up suddenly, nearly knocking Roxas's book from his hands. "The supervisor was a total jerk today! He's so anal about everything--and I mean that in every sense of the word. I put one file--_one file_--outta place and--bam!--I'm suspended for a week. Can you believe it?"

Roxas repositioned his glasses that were, once again, disrupted from a sudden movement. "Well, then, that leaves you free for a week, doesn't it?"

"How can you be so lax about this? I just got _suspended_, Roxas, _without pay_." Axel was confused; weren't people supposed to be angry and upset about this?

"It's not like we'll lose our apartment over it; we'll be fine," the blonde casually closed his book. He wrapped his arms around his boyfriend's neck and cooed, "We haven't had much time together; how can you not see this as a good thing?" Long fingers raked through red tresses, massaging the scalp underneath.

"I dunno," Axel settled his head on the younger boy's shoulder, enjoying the attention his hair was receiving. "I guess I just need something to whine about."

_"Your head is aching, I'll make it better."_

"Baby..."

Roxas smacked the hand away at his shoulder in irritation and embarrassment. "D-don't call me that here!" He looked from side to side and behind to see if anyone heard. It seems that no one did. Either that, or one of three alternative actions took place: Heard it and were snickering madly out of view; heard it and were silently saying that it was adorable where Roxas couldn't see them; or apathy.

"Why not?" was asked. "You don't seem to mind it at home." The blonde boy was a mysterious creature and it was Axel's goal in life to figure him inside and out.

The excuse: "That's in private, Axel," a sip of his drink, "As you can _clearly_ see, this is public."

What he was really saying: I don't mind; I just don't want _you_ to know that.

_"Cuz I love the way you call me baby._

_And you take me the way I am."_

"What? What!?" A cry was heard followed by a series of crashing noises coming from the bedroom the blonde and red head shared. But, you see, only one person was in there and the other wondered how only one person could create such a commotion (from outside the room, of course).

"Roxas...," Axel called, "Are you okay?"

The response came out a shriek of obscenities and other such phrases much to graphic to be spoken or even heard unless you wanted to feel a burning sensation somewhere along your eardrums.

The red head, from experience, has learned the right precautions when dealing with an upset Roxas. Carefully, he opened the door so that he couldn't be seen through the doorway and one would have to look behind the door to spot the stick of a man. When no artillery or gunfire or even more curse words were spouted, he peaked as much of his head in as sight demanded. What he saw was the blue-eyed short fuse on his knees, hands rummaging and tugging at his blonde locks, surely to rip out, Axel was sure, if he were to add any more force. He walked in the doorway, easy in steps following until he sat cross-legged next to the seemingly silent male. He was about to say something before a sight caught his eye to the left: a disheveled desktop computer in disarray. The keyboard on the floor, the mouse in the closet, the monitor God-knows-where. Axel spoke some daring words. "Computer trouble?"

"I was one paragraph away from finishing my essay, _one paragraph_. And, for some God-awful reason, the computer screen went completely blank. Black as pitch, dark as night, ..."

Axel further turned his attention to the computer that remained in the exact same position. Upon a few minutes of further inspection, he stated, "It's unplugged."

"Huh?" Roxas cheeks were stained from tears. Not emotional crippled mess tears-- disappointed, hysterical tears that come out when you figure out _why_ a game says to not turn off a game when you're saving it.

"The computer, it's unplugged."

_"I'd buy you Regine if you start losing all your hair._

_Sew on patches to all you tear._

_Cuz I love you more than I could ever promise._

_And you take me the way I am._

_You take me the way I am._

_You take me the way I am."_

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_A/N: They just got smaller & smaller & smaller with each.. thing. But, it was cute, right? Kinda made you go "Aw"? Every line had it's own little very short one-shot. But, those tiny one-shots added up to an annoyingly long songful. At the last two, I was so tired, I kept repeating, "Do I _have _to?"_


End file.
